I am so very excited to share the second Becoming Bella post with you guys today!

I cannot begin to express how heartwarming it was to receive the kind of response that I did after sharing the first one. It really reassured me that the decision to add this kind of material to my blog was a positive one, so THANK YOU!

With that said, I apologize for taking so long to get the next one up, but you know…life. I’m going to try and work these into my posting schedule a little more frequently. 🙂

Alright, onto the good stuff! This topic may seem bizarre to some of you, but I think it’s very relevant for many – including myself.

Who doesn’t love to feel like they have all of their ducks are in a row?! You know, the feeling when work is going good, your relationships are good, your finances are good, your confidence is good — everything just feels good + life is great? I love those days more than anything! Unfortunately, there are days or moments when my crazy ducks have a mind of their own + are spread out all over the freaking place. When this happens, my happy spirit + positive outlook take a turn down a dark, negative path.

I have this tendency to overthink, overanalyze, and over-stress…essentially over nothing. And I get in my own head!

For me, the freaking out is usually future related. When I say “future”, it covers anything from 5 minutes from now, to next year + beyond! I let the unknown + the weight of everything I have to do, or the things that I want [but don’t have yet] stir me up and break me down. Ex: “If ABC hasn’t happened yet, will it EVER?! …And how much longer until it does?! [insert sink-hole of negativity here]” Sound familiar to anyone?

Every so often, I’ll harp on one negative thought, and my mind runs completely wild with it. I have this miraculous ability to turn the tiniest thing into a full blown, disastrous, hypothetical situation. At this point, you may be thinking I need therapy or something, but in reality, I just need to freaking calm downnnn.

Each of our lives evolve at their own pace — do not compare yours to anyone else’s. Some things cannot be planned + it’s important to learn how to handle the things we can’t control, by controlling the things that we can. All the while, remembering to trust the timing of your life.

So, how do you ease your mind + get out of your head? How do your steer your life in a direction that feels less frightening, less stressful and more…happy?

You have to acknowledge the things/thoughts that are throwing your mind into overdrive and adjust your thinking. Try to understand why you’re feeling the way that you are + recognize that your “worry” is probably not even merited. Simultaneously, try to focus your energy on becoming the best version of yourself. Use each day to do something productive, something outside of your comfort zone, or something that will help you grow!

Believe that you deserve to be happy, and that you have the ability to create that happiness!

It may seem easier said than done, and some of our feats can feel like they’re just too big to tackle, but it’s really all in our head. We are so capable of accomplishing anything we set our minds to. Little things, big things, and great things! It may not happen overnight, it may not happen all at once, but if you identify your goals + continuously work towards them, you will make them happen. Don’t ever doubt yourself! To avoid future tripping, I’ve kind of begun living my life day by day. Of course I have goals, I have a plan, and I have an idea of what I want my bigger picture to eventually look like…but all I really have is today. And wasting any time worrying about yesterday, or stressing about tomorrow is not helping me reach my goals or moving my plan forward. It’s important to make everyday count, because this is the day that matters most!

I suppose the main message of this post is that our thoughts are such powerful components to the quality of our lives — and we have complete control over them. Wake up in the morning + consciously choose to be happy. Remember to take care of you, to make the most of this day + this moment…and the future will take care of itself. 🙂

Oh yeah, I have that same miraculous ability to make nothing into a full on disaster in my head. When I have too much free time with nothing occupying my mind, it goes into overdrive. I’ve found that if I keep myself busy, do things I enjoy, it doesn’t happen nearly as often.
Lately, I’ve decided that when those thoughts come into my mind I need to re-direct. I think about something I’m looking forward to. It’s almost like an addiction, the need to focus on worrying things is so overwhelming. When I try to re-direct, my mind still wants to go to that place, but if I don’t give in and focus on something else long enough, it passes. I’m still working on it. I figure if I do this long enough, I will break the habit of going to that negative place. 🙂 Prayers and love to you!

Thank you so much for your sweet comment + sharing your thoughts! As I read your words, I just kept thinking “Me too! Me too!!” It can be so hard not letting your mind wander down that negative path, but once we realize it’s our choice to go there, it should be just as easy to choose to go in the other direction! These moods are bound to come + go, but if we start recognizing what we’re doing before we do it, maybe we can eventually break the cycle! XOXO

I get in my own head constantly, thinking about yesterday, worrying about tomorrow. It’s very overwhelming! I try to take things day by day, which helps a lot. I’ve also been making a billion lists for every little thing just to get it out of my head so it’s one less thing I have to think about. Seeing things written down makes it so much easier, plus it feels great to cross something off the list even if it’s just the tiniest thing! Wonderful relatable post! xoxo

You are my kind of girl!! I love lists too – physically seeing what needs to be done + seeing it completed helps keep me in check. It’s far too easy to overthink, but our thoughts essentially mean nothing…we should just as easily be able to ….not think lol. It’s hard, but recognizing when I’m getting overwhelmed + doing something productive to counteract it always helps get me out of a funk. Life can be weird, and stressful, and hard, but it really shouldn’t be. We psych ourselves out wayyy more than we should. XOXO

You totally described in over thinking, over analyzing and stressing. I’m trying to change this mindset by taking one day at a time but it can get so difficult sometimes. We just have to remember that everything takes time and everyone grows at different paces. Someone can become a CEO before 30 and another when they are 50. We can’t give up or let the negative thoughts consume us. Great post! 🙂

I hear ya girl! It can be tricky feeling like you’re on top of the world one day and rolling in dirt the next lol. We all do things at our own paces, but it’s hard — especially when comparing our lives to others. I think if we all just tried to focus on the present moment + kept working towards our goals, we’d be just fine. We judge ourselves far more harshly than anyone else would. Thank you so much for reading! XOXO

I beat myself up all the time about not having my ducks in a row, but I’m trying to not be so hard on myself. It doesn’t always work, but I’m trying. The reason I left my first job out of college was because I worked by myself and had all day to get inside my head. It lead to a dark place of unhappiness and depression. I have vowed to never to go there again. I have my moments from time to time, but I never let it get that bad anymore. You are so right though, we have control and it’s time we all take it!

Love these posts! I can definitely relate. On most days than not, I find myself feeling stressed out, frazzled and scatter brained. My ducks are always running in circles so they aren’t ever in a row 🙂 haha but I definitely think we are our own worst critic and it’s so hard to not overthink and over stress about things! I can’t wait to keep up with all the posts in this series! xoxo

That quote from Katherine Matheson relates exactly to my life right now! I love this post and can 100% relate. I work things up in my head all the time. I especially worry about others close to me. Are they happy? Where are they going? And all of the above. So not healthy because I can’t control that! These posts are some of my favorites. Thanks for sharing a little piece of you!

I can so relate to this post! I over analyze and over think and stress over everything. My mind always automatically goes to worst case scenario over the smallest of things from overthinking why it’s taking someone so long to text me back to worrying about my yearly review for work (and not just typical “I might get a bad review” worry but more like “Did I do something awful, does my boss hate me and am I getting fired at my review?” worried). And don’t even get me started about where my mind goes when I start thinking about the future or money.
Thanks for sharing!

Aww, I totally understand. We drive ourselves absolutely crazy for no reason! It’s so easy to let your mind overanalyze many things, but once we’re aware of what we’re doing, I think we can start to practice doing the opposite. Or at least try! I love that one quote I put in there, “…there’s no reason to make yourself sad”. That hit home for me…WHYYY are we doing anything that’s making us sad!? lol The mind is a crazy thing, but we really do have the power to control it. 🙂